Review of Werckmeister Harmonies (2001) by Dalmar H — 02 Dec 2008

I'm of two minds about this. The strange, atmospheric story and melancholy performances are marvelous, but Tarr's use of very long shots sometimes undercuts itself. When the shots work, they are pure cinematic magic, but all too often they simply drift along with no real purpose driving them.

I don't know much about Tarr and his philosophy, but it doesn't take much to realize he is a mystic, and perhaps searching for truths in these long moments, but too many of them fail. A fine movie, but for films of this school, Reygadas, Andersson and, of course, Tarkovsky, stand above Tarr as filmmakers who really *get it*.